I think it's a good step forward, but they didn't live up to the hype. I tried a few searches using Powerset and using Wikipedia's native search, and I found out that Powerset did bring better results in my simple tests.
The thing I liked most about Powerset was, ironically, not the natural language processing part, but the user interface. For example, when searching for "barack obama", I immediately get a summary about the person, then a list of other search results below that. On Wikipedia's search, I get a list of search results, and then I click on the first result to get to what I need. So, in this regard, Powerset saves me a page view.
yeah, I see powerset as google with a prettier interface. I tried a few searches that google would fail at, and powerset didn't do any better. It didn't actually understand what I was asking for - it was just matching keywords.
arcange1m1 votesWednesday, June 11, 2008 at 7:24 AM
Hyping a new product...ANY new product...and then not meeting expectations is bad for the rest of the industry in which that product lies.
The AI Industry has a lot to overcome but this may get people excited about AI again. While I'm not sure I agree with the business PR strategy of tell the world then deliver short, I congratulate Barney for such a bold and brave move.
yeah, powerset certainly seems to have a lot of personal energy behind it, and I presume that comes from the people at the top. Powerset seems to be a good product, and I'm sure it will shine in some applications. But still, I think that the hype was a touch over the top.
